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VIVA LA BEAVER! Beaver Causes a Stir in Duke Park, NC
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Duke Park neighbors rallied around a beaver whose dam was turning Larry Crabtree's residence into waterfront property.
On January 21, neighbor Marty Jarrell alerted the email listserv that she had received a letter from NCDOT regarding a beaver inhabiting the wooded area bordered by Glendale, Washington and I-85. The beaver's dam was clogging a drainage pipe, and the water was forming a pond in several backyards. The letter requested permission from Jarrell—whose home borders the wooded area—to remove the beaver. Methods cited included "crushing traps, necksnares and explosives," but no humane alternatives. Several other neighbors chimed in to say that they, too, had received the letter.
Even the neighbors most adversely affected by the beaver's activities did not favor killing the beaver or blowing up the dam. Due to our neighborhood's past interactions with NCDOT, there was little sentiment for trusting them to make recommendations in our interest. There was also suspicion that perhaps there were other factors involved - neighbors had complained about flooding in that area when I-85 construction began two years ago. It was also brought up that perhaps more yard waste was getting into the system as people have dropped out of the city's yard waste program. Touring the area, DPNA president Barry Ragin saw evidence of leaves and debris being dumped in the area, too. The drainage pipe was ringed with rocks by NCDOT in the hopes of discouraging the beaver, but he just built his dam in front of the rocks.
Your trusty webmaster, ever the internet geek, did a google search on resources for beaver control. She discovered that the state of NC has a Beaver Damage Control Advisory Board, which manages the Beaver Management Assistance Program. This program helps citizens with beaver control with an emphasis on non-lethal and environmentally friendly methods. Unfortunately, the county needs to join the program
for a fee of $4,000, and Durham was not with the program.
Herald-Sun reporter, Ginny Skalski, monitors the Duke Park listserv and wrote an article for the Jan. 25 edition of the newspaper about the beaver controversy. That caught the eye of WTVD, which left messages with Ragin and other neighbors trying to get someone on camera. They did a broadcast on the issue on Jan. 26. Neighbor Nancy McNabb reported that she saw a piece about the beaver on The Weather Channel on Jan. 27. She said "Two of the weather readers were trying to coax Jim Cantori into doing a beaver imitation. He declined."
In the meantime, Ragin contacted county commissioner Ellen Reckhow about the beaver management program, and arranged a tour of Duke Park's new pond for interested parties. Reckhow contacted the county manager, Mike Ruffin, and Soil and Water Conservation Director Eddie Culberson. Durham County has now joined the Beaver Management Program.
As of this writing, Culberson is working with NCDOT to bring the latest in beaver dam containment technology to Duke Park. The plan is to lower the water enough to drain neighbors' yards, but keep the beaver happy, too. As it turns out, the experts at Beaver Management don't recommend killing or removing the beaver after all. They said that if
a location is desirable, another beaver will find it soon enough and move back in.
But we already knew that Duke Park was a great place to live.
Just got this email from DPNA president Barry Ragin:
love the site, and thanks for publicizing the story of the Duke Park Beaver. Would appreciate it if you would link back to the Duke Park site (http://rtpnet.org/dukepark) and also credit webmistress Claire Doyle for the story.
thanks,
br
so go look at the DUKE PARK website! THX WEBMISTRESS Claire Doyle!
Also here are the emails from Katherine O'Brien that started it all.
The Beaver Lodge has a bit of a long story to it.
Duke Park neighborhood (http://www.rtpnet.org/dukepark/) in Durham, NC found itself protecting a lodge of urban beavers from the hostile NC Dept of Transportation. These beavers discovered an intermittent wetland on the boundary of the neighborhood right where DOT was expanding I-85. The wetland is turning into a pond. DOT notified homeowners near the lodge that they would carry out departmental policy--kill the beaver. (Apparently, NC has more of the critters than the state thinks we need.) The neighborhood reacted in alarm and organized to find a way to co-exist with these new residents.
During a very energetic neighborhood game night (cranium) the group decided to embrace the beaver as a mascot. The more we read and learn about beavers the more we find them to be an appropriate totem for those of us with environmental concerns, women's rights, queer politics. The beaver is a playful image.
Katherine O'Brien
beaver lodge local 1504
Durham, NC
GO DURHAM BEAVERS!
VIVA LA BEAVER!
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